Pull List: Comics Coming Out 4/3/13

And what’s coming this first New Comic Book Day of April? Plenty, and we’ve also got reviews of selected books from DC, Dark Horse, IDW, and Valiant.

DC’s big book this week is Detective Comics #19, really the 900th issue of the book and an 80-page giant to celebrate, and has more Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Earth 2 and Dial H.

Marvel debuts Thanos Rising, and has more Superior Spider-Man, Indestructible Hulk, and All-New X-Men. They also kick off plugging Iron Man 3 in earnest this week, with multiple variant covers of various Marvel heroes in Iron Man armor, and reissuing several Iron Man books. Also there are a lot of Dynamic Forces reprintings this week, on top of that.

Image has a new ’68 miniseries, Jungle Jim, and a new Mice Templar mini, starting today. There’s also more Snapshot and Mind The Gap, as well as two of our favorite books from the company, Nowhere Men and Five Weapons, getting new printings.

Dark Horse debuts The Last of Us: American Dreams and Abe Sapien: Dark And Terrible, has the kids’ one-shot Snow Angel and is offering up a reprint of The Massive‘s first issue for a buck.

IDW has more Locke And Key: Omega, Kill Shakespeare, and Transformers: Spotlight, and wraps up Godzilla: Half-Century War.

And Boom! debuts the Polarity miniseries, written by Max Bemis of the band Say Anything, and has more Hypernaturals.

Cover for ‘Earth 2’ #11, out today from DC Comics

Reviews

Detective Comics #19

This 80-page issue, the 900th issue of the book in overall terms, shows off John Layman’s ability to write a solid Batbook; he brings in villains as diverse as Zsasz and Man-Bat, while building up Emperor Penguin as a credible threat. It’s not Layman’s strongest story of the run: That would be his wistful and sad story of false love featuring Clayface a few months ago. But it’s still strong work.

Jason Fabok, meanwhile, leads the art team and really, really enjoys drawing man-bat creatures. It’s a fun book, and the 80-page format lets Layman and others tell one story from a variety of perspectives ranging from the cops on the beat to Francine Langstrom.

Swamp Thing #19

Charles Soule and Kano kick off their first arc with a bang: Swamp Thing, chasing after a plant-manipulating do-gooder, gets a face full of fear gas courtesy of the Scarecrow.

It does not go how the Scarecrow, or the readers, quite expect. Soule is bringing the character closer to Alan Moore’s amorality, and perhaps the comparisons this opening chapter invites may not be entirely welcome. But it’s a fun read, and a good follow-up to Scott Snyder’s run.

Action Comics #19

Andy Diggle has unfortunately walked away from this book, which is too bad, because it’s got the seeds of a great run. Lex Luthor is back and screwing with Superman. Just how we’ll let you discover, but let’s just say it’s going to be nasty. Tony S. Daniel does a good job with the art: We’ll see how he does with the writing as well.

Dial H #11

China Mieville’s take here takes a much more distinct turn for the weird, although the book is anchored in something we don’t see too often: The next-day regret over a hook-up that was probably a bad idea. Alberto Ponticelli’s pencils and Dan Green’s inks really shine here, though. Mieville throws some very, very odd visual ideas at the team, and they handle them with aplomb. Funny and surreal, all at the same time, this book remains some of the most inventive in the New 52.

Green Arrow #19

While I enjoy Jeff Lemire’s writing on this book, and a good action scene, it’s a little hard not to view this issue as a bit of padding for a larger arc. It’s mostly Komodo turning Ollie into a pincushion and being an arrogant douche, and it’s amusing as far as it goes, but it doesn’t really advance the plot or tell us anything we didn’t already know. But, hey, Andrea Sorrentino at least draws one hell of an action scene.

Green Lantern #19

Geoff Johns actually hands in one of the weaker issues in this crossover. The Wrath of the First Lantern has largely been about the events that define each Lantern, and how if they’d gone different how their lives would have changed. Johns only pays the concept lip-service, largely because he has to push the plot through, and it suffers compared to Peter Tomasi and Tony Bedard’s takes on the concept. It doesn’t help that Sinestro is one of the less dynamic villains in the DCU, and that’s what Johns has to work with. But at least it’s setting up what promises to be a hell of a pay-off.

This is less a continuance and more a complete reboot of the book, opening with reality being completely rewritten, and more of a space opera tone to the proceedings. Still, if you’re going to publish a super hero space opera, Jim Starlin is the guy you get to write it. Similarly, there are hints here that Rob Liefeld’s rather awful reboot of Lobo is being retconned out of existence, and good riddance.

Yvel Guichet and Jonas Trindade, penciller and inker, don’t really get much of a workout here just yet, but their art is solid and one suspects the book will make with the action soon enough. It’s mostly set up, but if you like the idea of clandestine superheroes trotting across the galaxy, this might be the start of something good.

David Chelsea’s Snow Angel

A cute, ever so slightly off-kilter one-shot aimed at kids, Chelsea’s book still takes some… unusual turns. This might be the first comic in history to turn the death of William Henry Harrison into a joke. But it’s got its clever moments, and a storybook vibe to it that makes it perfect for small children while being engaging for adults. If you’ve got a kid in your life, this is a good comic for them.

Abe Sapien #1

Mike Mignola and Scott Allie finally give Abe the ongoing he’s had coming for a while, with Sebastián Fiumara
handling the art. And Fiumara is a lovely choice: His ink work in particular has a lovely scratchy, charcoal-like quality to it that gives the book a distinct, and beautiful, look. The story is engaging as well: Abe Sapien really, really doesn’t want to be found… but it’s not clear why not just yet. This is a good place for those interested to start, and just for those who enjoy good art.

Joe Palooka #5

The bro-iest comic currently on the rack just somehow keeps going.

Honestly, I read this book at this point because I’m just not sure if Mike Bullock is being sincere here or if he’s pulling our legs. The writing is full of cliche, right down to the dialogue: A character at one point tells someone to shut their mouth or it will be shut for them. It’s like reading a cheesy direct-to-video moive.

Fernando Paniche, on the other hand, actually has talent as an artist, but action scenes simply aren’t his strong suit… kind of a problem in a book about MMA. On the other hand, he draws a great Asian gangster in a loud suit and pompadour: That’s got to count for something.

Transformers Spotlight: Trailcutter

This, on the other hand, is a great little one-off book. Focusing on Trailcutter, and his personal travails because he’s “the forcefield guy” James Roberts does very well with this little one-off stories, and Matt Frank makes these robots far more expressive than you’d think. It’s not a classic story but it’s a fun, well-written one about the little guy getting one over, and it’s affectionate enough that it’s hard not to be won over.

Star Trek #19

Or “Scotty Begins”. This one-off issue mostly explains how Montgomery Scott wound up conveniently located on an ice planet full of dinosaurs to help Kirk in the reboot, so it’s more for fans than casual readers. But if nothing else, Mike Johnson does manage to redeem one of the most annoying characters in Star Trek history. No, not Scotty: Porthos.

Godzilla: The Half-Century War #5

James Stokoe wraps up this miniseries on what’s arguably the perfect note. Stokoe uses Godzilla as a metaphor for humanity raging against things beyond its control, and the miniseries has the pay-off you might expect, but it’s oddly affecting. Amid all the giant monster fights, what resonates most here is the human touch; this may be a big slice of giant monster action, but it’s ultimately about the people, not the lizard.

Locke And Key: Omega #4

I know many of you are looking forward to this one, so I’ll avoid spoilers by keeping it brief: If you love this series, you’re not going to be disappointed.

Kill Shakespeare: Tide Of Blood #2

Following up on a strong first issue, this series doesn’t disappoint. But we’re singling this out for a clever stunt Andy Berlanger, the artist, has pulled off here: If you look closely, the book is “mirrored”. The first splash and the last splash are alike in layout, for example. But Berlanger also fills the book with some creepy and vivid visuals, perfectly complimenting Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col’s note-perfect Shakespeare pastiche. If Shakespeare wrote a psychological horror story, it’d be this. Don’t miss this book.

Harbinger Wars #1

Joshua Dysart does a quite good job tying together several Valiant books at once into a cohesive mini. In particular, he does a good job with the smug, self-satisfied bureaucrat; Dysart’s ultimate bad guys don’t think they’re bad guys. Claytons Henry and Crain also do quite well with an action sequence. Helping is the fact that you don’t need to have read everything leading up to this: It does offer a lot of context, but if you just want to dive in, you can. It’s a zippy action book and a lot of fun, another feather in Valiant’s cap.

Age Of Ultron #4
Bedlam #6
Blackacre #5
Great Pacific #6
Snapshot #3
Uber #0
and I think I have some other randoms coming in as well.

I have mixed feelings about all of these musicians coming out with their own comics these days. Max Bemis from Say Anything, Gerard Way from MCR, Claudio from Coheed, etc, etc… sure some of them are talented writers, but some of them should also stick to what they know. just because they love the medium (as we all do) doesn’t mean they are going to be the next Alan Moore.

Yeah, but that said, I get why publishers are doing this. Musicians have a built-in fan base. Also, none of them have turned out to be disasters just yet, and Umbrella Academy is somewhat surprising in how good it is.

@Dan & @dirtynouveau
What’d you guys think of Uber #0? I’ve got some torn feelings about it. It was a bit dense, but I think that was the point.
I enjoyed reading the afterword, in which Gillen says we’re not supposed to like it, we’re supposed to think the world sucks. I enjoyed the art immensely, it was gritty. But again, it was a bit dense.